Ozy and Millie by Dana Simpson for April 12, 2024

If you really want to insult someone in ye-olde fasioned speak, call them a zounderkite.

For those, like me, who have a hard time figuring out what the fuss is about.

Iambic pentameter (/aɪˌæmbɪk pɛnˈtæmɪtər/ eye-AM-bik pen-TAM-it-ər) is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in each line. Rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called “feet”. “Iambic” indicates that the type of foot used is the iamb, which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as in a-BOVE). “Pentameter” indicates that each line has five “feet”.

A standard line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

When I do count the clock that tells the time (Shakespeare’s 12th Sonnet)

My mother said that she and her best friend started insulting each other and then they stopped being friends.

Shakespearean flyting! Great idea!

I bet Felicia would be great at that.

Millie. Now, Ozy, see your fur is falling out!

Ozy. O Zounds, ’tis true, but yours be worse!

The start of Iambic Pent-slammeter.